WELLCUM TO MY PAGE!!!
So u want 2 get to 25295 ACORN LANE, IDYLLWILD-PINE COVE, CA 92549 huh?? Well SIT DOWN friend. That address is 3,200 vertical feet above the desert floor and the road up was carved into a mountain by men who did NOT care about ur comfort or ur life.
I have made this trip MANY times. I have seen things I cannot put on a family website. I built this page in 1998 so u would not have 2 learn the way Gary learned.
READ EVERY WORD. THE MOUNTAIN DOES NOT DO SECOND CHANCES.
Ok. Look. I did not want 2 put this at the top of the page but my conscience said I had 2.
PEOPLE GO MISSING ON THIS MOUNTAIN.
Not a lot. But not ZERO!!! And it is always the same stretch of 243 between the last cell tower and the Pine Cove turnoff. Locals call it THE QUIET MILE. Nobody prints that on a map. But everybody up there knows exactly what ur talking about when u say it out loud.
Official explanation is "poor signage and driver fatigue." OFFICIAL EXPLANATION. Ok. Sure. 👀
There r 3 ways up this mountain. One will make ur passenger cry. One is fine. One of them is how it happens.
The classic!! Off the I-10 and climbing immediately. 25 miles of switchbacks cut into the side of the San Jacintos, every turn showing u a view u absolutely cannot safely look at. THIS IS THE 1 I RECOMEND.
≈ 50 min from the freeway. Passes thru THE QUIET MILE. Do not stop.
Nicer on the stomach, worse on the clock. Take the Pines to Palms road, meet 243 at Mountain Center, head north. Pick this if somebody has ALREADY announced they get carsick.
≈ add 20 min. Statistically fewer incidents. I am not saying zero.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. Ur navigation does NOT know the shortcut is a fire road. It does not know the fire road is GATED. It does not know that gate is 9 miles from another living human. It will route u there with total confidence, lose signal, and leave u alone out there with ur choices and whatever else is out there.
◄◄ THIS IS EXACTLY HOW IT HAPPENS ►►
This isnt advice. This is the whole page compressed into 1 sentance. Offline maps, downloaded while u still have 4 bars, covering the WHOLE region not just the pin. The mountain takes ur signal around 4,000 ft and it does not give it back.
Banning has gas. Hemet has gas. The mountain has gas 2, at a price reflecting the fact it came up the same switchbacks ur about 2 drive. Fill up down there.
243 climbs HARD and turns constantly. Low gear on the descent instead of riding ur brakes into a smell u will remember for the rest of ur life. Pull into turnouts and let locals pass. They drive this daily and they have somewhere 2 be.
Pine and cedar, a few storefronts, an art academy, and parking that fills instantly. If u pass the town center u went 2 far south. Acorn Ln is NORTH, up in Pine Cove where the trees close in over the road.
★ FUN FACT ★ the mayor of this town is a golden retriever named Max. This is 100% TRUE and it tells u everything about where ur going.
Pine Cove numbering is a suggestion made by several diffrent people across several diffrent decades. Driveways r unmarked, steep and identical. Numbers hide on trees, on rocks, on posts leaning at 40°. Crawl. Read EVERYTHING.
No street lighting. After sundown the forest goes genuinely completely dark and every unmarked driveway looks exactly like every other unmarked driveway. Daylight turns a hard problem into an easy 1.
TARGET :: 1 HOUR BEFORE SUNSET. MINIMUM. I AM BEGGING U.
5,500 ft is high enough 2 shorten ur breath, dry u out, and make the first drink hit way harder than planned. Water first. The headache at hour 3 is altitude, not the drive.
Signal dies going up and stays bad at the top. Ur rideshare is NOT coming. Ur delivery is NOT arriving. Agree on a meeting plan b4 u lose bars or u will be standing in a driveway waving a phone at the sky like everybody else.
Mule deer walk onto 243 with zero warning, usually on a curve, usually the exact second u look away. Bobcats and coyotes r out there 2. SLOW DOWN after sundown.
90° in the valley, 50° on the mountain after dark. People show up in shorts and spend the whole night negotiating for a blanket. Bring layers u think u dont need.
Between the last tower and the Pine Cove turnoff u may see lights over the ridge that do not behave like aircraft. They hold still. Then they do not.
Forest Service says weather balloon. Weather balloon. In August. Holding position for 20 minutes. Moving off at a right angle. Ok!!!
PROTOCOL: keep driving. Do not slow down. Do not flash ur high beams at it. Gary flashed his high beams at it.
The most dangerous thing on this mountain is a driver who is confident. Confidence is what sends people down unmaintained forest roads at 7pm. Doubt everything. Check twice. THIS IS THE REAL 1.
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers
Q: Can I just follow my GPS?
A: Up 243, yes. Into Pine Cove, no. See ROUTE C and think hard about ur life.
Q: How bad r the switchbacks really?
A: If u get carsick take ROUTE B. If u dont, ull be fine. If ur driving a 30 ft rental, God be with u.
Q: Is it cold up there??
A: YES. Even in summer. Especially at night. BRING A JACKET.
Q: Are the UFO parts of this page a joke
A: The map advice is real. The gas advice is real. The mayor is a real dog. The rest of it is between u and the ridge line. 🛸
Q: What happened 2 Gary
A: Gary is FINE. Gary just doesnt drive at night anymore and thats a personal choice that we respect.
Q: Did the branding team ever turn up
A: No. But the client did rebrand in 2001 and if u look at the mark real close ull notice something. Im not gonna say what. Look at the negative space.
Q: Is the mayor really a dog?
A: YES. 🐕 His name is Max. He has a truck. He is the only official up there who has never lied 2 me.
The gravel gives under the tires. The pines close over the top of u. Somewhere way down there the valley is still 90 degrees and full of people who took the shortcut.
Turn off the engine. Listen to how quiet it is.
It was always worth the climb.
(check the car clock against ur watch. no reason. just check it.)
this page was made small, finished, and put out. no committee. no approvals.
the name on it is a real name.
more tiny things over there. bring somthing finished.